


Friend, Please

by charcoalie



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Depression, Gen, Grief/Mourning, I'm Sorry, Pain, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Bruce, Songfic, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 14:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17427896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcoalie/pseuds/charcoalie
Summary: After the Snap, Thor is feeling low.





	Friend, Please

**Author's Note:**

> A song fic based on Friend, Please by Twenty One Pilots

_ I feel for you, but when did you believe you were alone? _

 

Thor shrugged his jacket off of his shoulders and fell onto the couch at the compound. He had nowhere to go but here. Everyone was dead. Everyone close to him, that is. He was alone in the realms, shouldering burdens and guilt like they were the sky. 

 

_ You say that spiders crawled inside and made themselves a home where light once was. _

 

He was darker now. The team could see it. Two years changed a lot about a person, that much was clear, but no one had changed as drastically as Thor had. The Shakespearean bubbly god was now a mere shadow of himself, constantly slouching with his dark eyes gazing blankly at everyone.

 

_ Petrified of who you are, and who you have become. _

 

There were late nights when he lay awake, thinking about the past events. The past haunted him, a violent ghost that refused to let go of its hold on his throat, suffocating him until he could barely breathe. Visions of Loki being strangled, the clear  _ crack _ audible throughout the room, and the image of them, limp and pale on the ground was too much to bear. The sight of his best friend fighting as he died, his mother's funeral, his planet being destroyed. He had done so little. There was so much more he could have done and yet he  _ didn't. _ And he hated himself for it.

 

_ You will hide from everyone, denying you need someone to exterminate your bones. _

 

“I am  _ fine, _ ” Thor would insist as he slammed the door shut behind him. Bruce would stare after his friend, the last person that the god had, but would say nothing. He knew it was important to be alone sometimes. But even more importantly was having someone there to support you. But it seemed that Thor needed space, for he was too grief stricken.

 

_ Friend, please, remove your hands from over your eyes for me. _

 

Thor was in the bathroom. He looked up into the mirror, his odd eyes staring back at him. He did not see himself. Instead he saw a failure, a broken man, a disgraced king. Leaning forward over the sink, he took a deep breath.

 

_ I know you want to leave. _

 

It was so close. It was within his reach. Just a few steps away. He could have it. If only he had the courage. The willpower. He could have lifted his hand and summoned it, but one thing stopped him.

 

Bruce.

 

_ But friend, please, don't take your life away from me. _

 

Bruce, his friend. How happy had the doctor been when Thor had arrived in Wakanda, wielding Stormbreaker with Tree and the Rabbit by his side? He had been happy to see him alive. And now all he could think of was Bruce stumbling across his dead body. It was enough to force him away from the mirror, back into the room, and onto the bed, walking past the weapon.

 

_ Living like a ghost, you walk by everyone you know. _

 

He didn't eat. Not anymore. He would drag around the compound, avoiding any questions about his health. There was no connection. Steve tried the hardest, of course. He would sit next to Thor on the couch, trying to cheer him up with random things. The rabbit would, too, which honestly helped the most, his chaos providing an easy distraction. But it was only for a few moments at a time until he would drift back into his room, hiding from the world and the pain.

 

_ You say that you are fine but you have lost your sway and glow. _

 

“I am fine,” Thor repeated. But it wasn't aggressive this time. It wasn't angry. It was resigned, as though he knew he was only a shell of his former self and was tired of pretending. Bruce frowned as the god retreated into his room again, and he decided that it was time that he step in.

 

_ So I stopped by to let you know _

 

There was a knock on the door, but that didn't matter. Thor stood in the bathroom, Stormbreaker in his hand. It was too much. It was simply too much. He had wanted to continue for Bruce, but the trauma, the loss, the  _ pain _ . It was impossible.

 

The door swung open. It hadn't been locked, so Bruce entered. He looked around the room. Stormbreaker and Thor were nowhere in sight. His constant frown deepened, until he saw the light on in the bathroom, a shadow covering parts of the doorway.

 

_ Friend, please, remove your hands from over your eyes for me. _

 

“Thor?”

 

That was all it took. Thor held the axe to his throat, ready to move it, but he stopped at Bruce's voice. Tears welled in his eyes, but he couldn't say anything. He froze, the tears streaking into his beard. Footsteps came closer, and then there was a knock on the bathroom door. “You okay?”

 

Still silence. It began to freak Bruce out a little, but he tried to remain calm.

 

“I am here,” Thor croaked, Stormbreaker still at his throat.

 

_ I know you want to leave. _

 

“I'm sorry that you're going through this stuff. I know you're probably in a lot of pain, but it's okay. You can heal.” Thor tightened his grip on Stormbreaker.

 

_ But friend, please, don't take your life away from me. _

 

There was a crash, a thud, and a small choking sound as Thor sobbed. The bathroom door clicked as he unlocked it, and it was quickly thrown open as Bruce stormed in. Thor was on the floor, Stormbreaker next to him, and he was sobbing violently. It was heartbreaking. The scientist had never seen him like that. He crossed over and sat on the lid of the toilet, his hand reaching out to stroke Thor's hair gently. The god moved in closer, his sobs softening as he leaned his head against Bruce's knee. 

 

“Please don't,” he whispered, and Thor knew he wasn't referring to the physical contact. “I'm always here, Thor. Please. Let me in. Let me help you.”

 

The god gave a soft nod, then picked up his axe and threw it into the bedroom. 

 

He wouldn't need it again until battle.


End file.
